I’m stuck between 3 places to live – Southampton, Portsmouth or Torbay?

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I have a job opportunity at these three places.
I like all these places equally. I would be moving and starting a new life there.

Where would you pick and why

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Answers


  1. The Tank
    Southampton. Adjacent to the New Forest, one hour ferry to the Isle of Wight, great around there if you're interested in sailing, riding, hiking etc., some excellent local beers, very good leisure facilities in the town, half-baked football team that used to be in the Premier League. The Mayflower theatre is the largest outside London and frequently has the big musicals showing. The surrounding towns and villages very good (eg Romsey, Chandler's Ford, Winchester, Eastleigh, Burseldon, Fareham) and better to live in than Southampton itself. Public transport is good and trains to London & elsewhere are fast and frequent. Great modern hospital. Portsmouth. More industrial than Southampton, particularly to the north of the city. Major ferry port so is convenient if you want to go "dans le Continent" but can have heavy traffic. Good foot and car ferry to Isle of Wight (worth a visit). Loads of facilities in the city including a couple of good but small theatres. Has a Premier football club. Close to Hayling Island (good beach and holiday place) and is a conurbation with Southsea. Surrounding villages and small towns are more Social Class D/E than Southampton. Congestion is usually quite bad at rush hours. First Class hospital. Road and rail links very good. Torquay. Much prettier than Pompey or Sot'on but very seasonal. The place is almost dead outside of the holiday season and very crowded inside it. Unlike bigger seaside resorts such as Bournemouth, Torquay doesn't have much to sustain it "out of season". The town runs into the adjacent town of Paignton, which is much more sedate but still asleep in winter. All of that area of the South Devon coast is very hilly and the Torbay Towns can grind to a halt in winter. Even though they rarely have snow they do get frosts and that can be bad news on those hills. Some of them are 1:15. Trains to the midlands or London do happen but mostly you have to change at Exeter or Newton Abbot. There is a steam railway to Dartmouth. There is very little going on in any of the surrounding towns except Totnes. The town of Totnes is fairly self-contained and is about 5 miles inland from Paignton. It is renowned for being the southern home of "alternate" living. There are loads of shops where you can buy Earth Mother clothing or Dream Catchers. Quite good fun for a while. Mainline Great Western trains stop at Totnes and there is also a steam railway. On balance I recommend the Southampton area (not the town itself unless you like urban living). Try Romsey or Totton as a first stab. Torquay is great to visit but is not really suitable for full time living unless you like the seasonal stop-go type of activities. Portsmouth and Southsea exist on an island (not apparent at first sight but it's true). There are three road routes across to the mainland, these can get very congested for hours at a time. If you're willing to live in the overgrown villages (small towns) of Havant or Waterlooville just north of Portsmouth then you should be alright - but there is no railway at Waterlooville and buses can be caught in traffic jams.
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